Someone is Going To Slap The CNN Out of Don Lemon….

When Michael Brown was gunned down last month, many celebrities went to Ferguson, Missouri to aid the cause in what way they could.

Well, that was bound to happen–celebrities will do anything to lend their name to causes that get them MORE ATTENTION, but one of the strangest encounters was between Hip Hop performer Talib Kweli and Don Lemon.

Now, I watched it…listened, and just for the life of me, couldn’t understand why it turned out this way.

Was Don Lemon acting condescending?  Or…was he just being DON LEMON: the man who THINKS he’s the spokesperson for Black America?

Some time ago, I wrote a piece on Don Lemon about some comments he made that I felt was derogatory towards the Black community on his show Talking Points.  Basically, Don blamed young Black men for the treatment they received for the manner in which they dressed (sagging).  I don’t like it either, but I’m not going to have a discussion with a predominantly white audience; and basically enabling racist thoughts that aren’t filtered with education and interaction.

A lot of Black people, including myself, took Lemon to task for his comments.

I went as far as to contact CNN directly and speak my mind.

As for this bizarre exchange, this was about respect.  Nothing more.

We aren’t all the same, and everyone has a point of view.

Talib was trying to speak, but Don wanted to control the interview.

That’s my point.

Will they be friends?

Only time will tell.

*KEEP THE FOCUS ON MIKE BROWN*

Yes!

 

My Letter To CNN…

Some of you probably remember an earlier blog I created entitled Is Don Lemon Helping Us or Hurting Us.  In that blog, I questioned his comments regarding his 5 talking points giving Black people advice about what things they could change in order to not being profiled.

MANY African Americans, including myself, were appalled at his gross naivete’ and condescending tone to our community.  It was apparent to us that Don Lemon is only trying to speak for whites too afraid to say what he does to our faces.

He was called out for this.

Well, he’s at it again: CNN host Don Lemon got a big chunk of Twitter very mad at him on Tuesday after he endorsed New York’s reviled stop and frisk policies.

Speaking during his regular slot on the Tom Joyner show he said:

Here’s what  Uncle Ruckus Thomas Lancaster DuBois Lemon had to say:

“f you question many people in New York City, even some black and Hispanic people,” Lemon claimed, “they will tell you that on the surface they don’t really have an issue with stop-question-and-frisk. Not the idea of it, at least. Not if the controversial policy was conducted like the occasional, random airport screening.”

Lemon noted that minorities want to believe that officers would stop someone and “politely” say, “Sir, I’m sorry, but I need to check your bag and your person,” but, he lamented, “they know that that’s not the reality of things on the street.”

“They know that in reality they will probably be ordered to put their hands up, spread their legs, or lay on the ground and be handcuffed while an officer or officers have their ways with them,” the CNN host said, “touching them wherever they’d like or handling them however they’d like.”

“So goes New York City, so goes the rest of the country,” he said of stop-and-frisk, adding his suggestion that if a new mayor “alters the equation of the formula that has reduced crime in New York City to its lowest in decades,” it could result in the “creeping back up” of crime rates, the reduction in tourism, and the suffering of “international consequences.” He posited that other major cities could follow suit.

“Whatever the mayor here decides will be reflected in your city, reflected in your crime rate, and in your economy,” Lemon concluded. “So the question is: would you rather be politically correct or safe and alive? That’s the real issue facing the citizens of New York and, pretty soon, ultimately you.

Well, I got tired of it and went to CNN.com and wrote a very nice letter about how I felt about Mr. Lemon.

If some of you would like to add a complaint about Mr. Lemon, please voice your concerns at: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/ * Just go to “comments about an anchor or reporter“.

I’l wait and see if this will become one of his Talking Points.